When investments in science = advancing community resilience: US Gulf Coast in focus

Gulf Coast communities have faced decades of interdependent environmental, public health, psychosocial, and economic challenges directly affecting their individual health and that of their communities. Persistent environmental health threats, recurring natural disasters, and historic health disparities have directly affected community resilience overtime.  This region exemplifies the inextricable linkage between ecosystem and community health.  In the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, public, private, and not-for-profit investments in research and public health capacity building are currently targeting a complex array of new scientific questions and concerns, including the role of resilience in disaster recovery of ecosystems and people.

Using case-based examples, this presentation will highlight public health research strategies to strengthen the evidence base of community resilience.  Preliminary observations from studies conducted in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill targeting first-time pregnant women will be discussed.  Research outcomes of interest include birth outcomes, psychosocial functioning, and factors influencing resilience.  Specifically, the role of culture on individual resilience and the interdependence of community resilience and cultural resilience will be examined.  The studies were explicitly selected to illustrate the benefits of long-term, sustained investments focused on assessing the impact on vulnerable communities of a specific adverse event. The presentation will also explore a new paradigm of scientific inquiry that reaches across ecology, ecosystem services, and population health. The resulting transdisciplinary research framework designed to advance community resilience and strengthen public health infrastructure and capacity in gulf coast states.